King Ludwig II of Bavaria

Born in Munich on 25 August 1845.

Died in the Würmsee (today: Lake Starnberg) near Schloss Berg on 13 June 1886.

King Ludwig II. the Fairytale King, was probably the most famous member of the Wittelsbach family. He became King of Bavaria at the age of 18 following the death of his father. His main interests were undisputedly of a cultural nature. In the field of music, he particularly patronised Richard Wagner. He financed his "Ring of the Nibelungen" and had the Bayreuther Festspielhaus built to his own ideas to stage the works. He also built the royal residences at Herrenchiemsee, Neuschwanstein and Linderhof for which the most modern construction methods were employed.

Ludwig II. left government to his ministers – politics did not particularly interest him. And so the war with Prussia and participation in the German-French war were more the result of his advisors' decisions rather than his own.

During this period, Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg focused particularly on the production of technical, medical-pharmaceutical and sanitation porcelain. The Bavarian court commissioned individual works to complement the royal porcelain. But such jobs accounted only for a small proportion of production.

Over the years, King Ludwig II. withdrew increasingly from politics and the public. On 8 June 1886, the government declared him insane and revoked his authority and just a few days later he drowned in the Würmsee in circumstances that to this day remain mysterious.

« Prince Regent Luitpold · King Ludwig II · King Max II Joseph »